Denver Broncos Power Rankings: Week 16

Did Sunday’s loss to the Patriots — the Broncos’ first loss since October — knock them out of the Top 10? Let’s find out… let us know where you’d rank the Broncos with a vote in the poll.

ESPN: 11th (9) The Broncos are not on par with the Patriots, but they still rank as the best of the AFC West and a playoff team.

FOX: 10th (8) Tim Tebow was given a lesson in excellent QB play by none other than Tom Brady on Sunday, but Tebow held up in his own right. The Broncos were able to accumulate 252 yards rushing, but if you fumble the ball three times and give up 41 points on defense, you aren’t going to win too many games.

CBS: 10th (9) If they win their last two games, they win the AFC West. But they found out just what happens when they face a team with an offense like the Patriots.

National Football Post: 13th (8) Can Tebow and the Broncos win games vs. the elite QBs in the NFL?

Walter Football: 7th (13)

Editor’s note: this guy’s Broncos bits get wackier every week.

Denver’s loss to New England made many people happy. John Kreese Elway for one. Johnny Lawrence Fox was another. And then there were all the dumb, former players on ESPN who have been wrong about Tim Tebow all along.

I am fair though, so I sat down with Merril Hoge for an interview to let him state his thoughts on Tebow:

Me: Hey Merril, thanks for taking the time to talk to me.

Merril Hoge: My pleasure.

Me: Tim Tebow finally lost. Was this what you expected?

Merril Hoge: It’s just what I’ve been saying all along, Walt. Tim Tebow cannot throw in the National Football League.

Me: I thought he actually threw pretty well Sunday, but his pass protection was abysmal. Agree or disagree?

Merril Hoge: Disagree. The Broncos threw it too many times. They needed to hand the ball off to the factor back! The factor back!

Me: But they were trailing after those three fumbles, plus Willis McGahee got hurt. They couldn’t exactly run the ball.

Merril Hoge: You can always run the ball with the factor back. That’s why he’s the factor back! Factor back!

Me: But you need to throw when you’re way behind…

Merril Hoge: Factor back! Factor back! Factor back!

Me: Are we going to have a conversation here, or are you going to continue to yell incoherently?

Merril Hoge: Factor back… Factor back! FACTOR BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!

Me: Ugh, OK, I’m going to end this conver… whoa, what the f*** is that!? ***

Suddenly, a 50-foot, 10-ton monstrous demon breaks through the ground ***

Monstrous Demon: RAWWWRRRR I AM FACTOR BACK!!!!!

Me: What the hell? I thought a factor back was a position on the football field; not some monster!

Merril Hoge: Factor Back! Factor Back!!! FACTOR BACK!!!

Factor Back: RAWWWRRRR I’M FACTOR BACK!!!!! FACTOR BACK!!!! FACTOR BACK!!!!!! RAWWWRRRRRR!!!!!

Me: Good God. Only Tim Tebow can save humanity now.

The Computers

USA Today Covers: 12th (15) Power Ratings compute offensive and defensive statistics into one number for each team, while accounting for factors like recent performances and strength of schedule.

WhatIfSports: 22nd (21) WhatIfSports.com utilizes its football simulation to rank all 32 NFL teams. To come up with the rankings, each team plays every other team 10,000 times

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